This document discusses Oxfam's approach to building resilience through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programming in conflict-affected South Sudan. It describes how Oxfam works to strengthen communities' absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities in emergencies and development. Examples provided include infrastructure projects that provide lasting access to water and sanitation, skills training and market linkages to support livelihoods, and capacity building of local authorities and private sector to independently manage services. The goal is to help communities cope with ongoing crises like conflict and drought while protecting development gains.
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39th
WEDC International Conference, Kumasi, Ghana, 2016
ENSURING AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
OF WATER AND SANITATION FOR ALL
Resilience Building in Complex Emergencies: WASH
Programming in Conflict States in South Sudan
King. K & White. E (United Kingdom)
BRIEFING PAPER
Conflict settings present a multitude of complexities due to their inherent volatility. In the case of South
Sudan, numerous crises are concurrently faced including conflict, mass displacement, drought, chronic
hunger and economic deterioration. South Sudan is a context that requires a long-term holistic view of the
transitions between humanitarian and development initiatives, so that outcomes are mutually reinforcing.
Resilience building through strengthening absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative
capacity, has the ability to ensure reinforcing transitions. Through specially designed WASH programme
approaches, such as infrastructure development in emergency response, building local existing capacity
to strengthen and maintain water supply infrastructure, strengthening supply chains and markets, and
building social connections, Oxfam has achieved and further aims to increase the ability of communities
to adapt to and cope with disasters, crises, shocks and stresses, so as to protect and build on development
gains and address the effects of underlying vulnerabilities that challenge them. This paper concludes that
it is possible to build adaptive capacity of crisis affected communities through emergency WASH
programming in remote conflict states in South Sudan, approaches which have the ability to build
absorptive and transformative capacity, demonstrating that resilience can be built within crisis and non-
crisis periods to allow mutually reinforcing outcomes between transitions, ensuring development gains
are not lost and resilience is actively increased.
Managing Transitions between Crisis and Development and the Importance of Resilience
When a crisis occurs, whether due to a disaster, economic deterioration or conflict, it will impact any
ongoing development in an affected society. To ensure that impacts from crises do not detrimentally
affect essential development, the transitions between states of crisis need to be strategically supported.
This can be achieved through:
i) Strengthening vulnerable societies absorptive capacity, i.e. The ability of a system to prepare for,
mitigate or prevent negative impacts of crises, using predetermined coping responses in order to preserve
and restore essential basic structures and functions.
ii) Developing vulnerable societies adaptive capacity, i.e. the ability of a system to adjust, modify or
change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential future damage and to take advantage of
opportunities, so that it can continue to function without major qualitative changes in function or
structural identity.
iii) Promoting the transformative capacity of a vulnerable society, i.e. the ability to create a fundamentally
new system so that a shock will no longer have any impact.
All three capacities are fundamental to resilience building.
Resilience Building in a Complex Emergency Context
A conflict setting presents a multitude of complexities due to its inherent volatility. In the case of South
Sudan, a country that faces numerous crises including conflict, mass displacement, drought, chronic
hunger and economic deterioration, a long-term holistic view of the links between humanitarian and
development initiatives is needed from the outset, so that outcomes are mutually reinforcing. All
programmes should address the immediate needs of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and host
communities, as well as their strategic needs, supporting and building their absorptive and adaptive
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capacity to increase their ability to cope with crises, adapt to prevailing situations and to actively build
transformative capacity, enabling a society to consequently become less vulnerable.
The Complex Context of South Sudan
The people of South Sudan have endured conflict for 42 of the last 60 years (BBC 2015). Civil wars have
taken place against a backdrop of seasonal food insecurity, resource-based conflict and tensions within
and between communities. Whilst these factors alone did not cause the civil war that started in December
2013, the vulnerabilities they created help explain the speed and extent to which it spread. Conflicts in the
country are continuously shifting, meaning high-risk areas are not high-risk all the time, and relatively
low-risk areas can also fall into conflict. These dynamics are further compounded by the effects of under
development. When South Sudan gained independence in 2011, it had suffered decades of little to no
investment, leading to a lack of functioning infrastructure. There has been some improvement, but
investments still largely focus on locations and sectors that benefit a powerful minority at the expense of
the rest of the country. Only 10 - 20% of South Sudan’s revenue goes to states and rural areas beyond
Juba, the capital (The Sentry 2015).
In the traditional conflict states of Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei, crises due to conflict, climate change
and a failing economy continue to drive food insecurity, water shortages and mass displacement. South
Sudan is currently experiencing the worst food crisis since gaining independence in 2011, with 2.8
million people – almost quarter of the population – facing acute food and nutrition insecurity in the
current dry season (IPC 2015). Large displacements of people in Unity State as a result of conflict have
left an estimated 40,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger (ibid). As the dry season progresses,
swamps and rivers are drying up, depleting precious limited food stocks like fish and water lilies - one of
the few coping mechanisms people have left. The most vulnerable households are resorting to selling off
their productive assets to buy increasingly expensive staples and commodities.
Oxfam’s Resilience Programming Approach in South Sudan
Oxfam defines resilience as ‘the ability of women, men, and children to realise their rights and improve
their well-being despite shocks, stresses, and uncertainty’ (Oxfam 2013). In South Sudan, Oxfam’s
programme approach focuses on combining humanitarian action for acute and chronic emergencies with
longer-term and sustainable approaches that are traditionally associated with development in a complex
conflict context. The approach looks to increase the ability of communities to adapt to and cope with
disasters, crises, shocks and stresses, so as to protect and build on development gains and address the
effects of underlying vulnerabilities that challenge them. Being resilient includes being flexible in the face
of changing risks including conflict and climate change; factors that are increasingly influencing risk
patterns throughout South Sudan. The multi-dimensional nature of resilience necessitates a ‘one
programme approach’, bringing together Oxfam’s humanitarian, development and influencing
programming for a holistic means of addressing current crises, while delivering innate, systemic and
long-term change at scale. Programme design is based on high-quality risk analysis and a detailed
knowledge and understanding of the multiple types of shocks and stresses that people face and their
vulnerabilities and capacities, which comes through regular community consultations. This approach also
aids in the identification of future scenarios and trends. Resulting programming actively addresses the
findings of this analysis, through flexible approaches that enables Oxfam, its partners and beneficiaries to
adapt to changing environments; essential in the context of South Sudani
.
Key components of resilience in the humanitarian sphere as described by King (2015), adapted from
Bosher (2005), highlights six key components of resilience: i) Access to assets - asset ownership, such as
a house, transportation or tools, forms a level of security and capital; ii) Access to basic services -
services, such as water, sanitation and health care are vital for survival and maintenance of health; iii)
Access to economic opportunity - proactively encouraging livelihood opportunities and market
stimulation will foster local economic recovery, stimulating the rehabilitation of local services and
amenities. It will also allow individuals/households (HHs) to raise essential capital to manage their own
recovery; iv) Access to legal and financial services - access to cash in a crisis can be fundamental to
securing accommodation, starting up businesses, and an opportunity for individuals/HHs to manage their
own recovery; v) Strong social and political networks - supportive social networks, such as friends,
family and community members, help mitigate adverse consequences and strengthen access to resources.
Political connections, i.e. access to local government, civil organisations and international organisations
provide essential support, information and guidance; vi) Risk perception - individual conceptualisation
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Figure 1. Market linkages and population flows in the traditional conflict states of Jonglei, Unity and
Upper Nile.
Source: Oxfam South Sudan’s Resilience Strategy 2016
of individual/HH/community resilience is vital to encourage self-belief and ownership of recovery and
not dependency. These key components are built into Oxfam’s programming in South Sudan to ensure
absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity can be achieved.
Through Oxfam’s large WASH programme, several essential components of resilience are built: access to
services, e.g. water supply and sanitation; economic opportunities, e.g. skills building (pump mechanics,
latrine construction, slab construction), developing trade (spare parts, construction materials);
strengthening social and political connections, e.g. building capacity of host communities, mitigating
protection concerns and potential conflict, building capacity of local ministries; and lastly, risk
perception, e.g. encouraging community-led and owned programmes. The following section details
examples of humanitarian WASH programming approaches undertaken by Oxfam in traditional conflict
states in South Sudan.
WASH Programming in the Conflict States of Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile
Oxfam currently undertakes humanitarian WASH programming and rapid response activities in southern
Unity, northern and western Jonglei and Upper Nile. In southern Unity, recent violent conflict left 10,553
dead and 56,129 displaced to the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS)
Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, absorbed into host communities, and finding refuge on islands
scattered throughout the Sudd (Office of the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator 2016). In northern and
western Jonglei, continual clashes between warring parties have forced large populations to flee in order
to find support from host communities or transition through to Gambella, Ethiopia (refer to Figure 1). As
the oil rich part of the country, Upper Nile is extremely volatile, with continual eruption of conflict
between warring parties led Oxfam to support IDP camps in Melut and Maban.
Infrastructure Development in Emergency Response
The provision of adequate water supply and sanitation facilities ensures access to basic services, which is
a key component of resilience. There are many opportunities to develop water and sanitation service
infrastructure in emergency response, even within complex conflict settings. Oxfam’s 3 month rapid
response in southern Unity saw the need to provide safe water supplies and sanitation to over 25,000 IDPs
and host communitiesii
, where many were taking refuge on small islands. With a base in Nyal town and a
mandate to go to ‘hard to reach locations’, Oxfam targeted islands up to two and a half hour canoe rides
from the town where host communities reside and fleeing IDPs had settled to find refuge away from the
violence. With no access to safe water or sanitation and sole reliance on contaminated swamp water for
drinking and domestic use, the approach undertaken saw the installation of new hand dug wells on six
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islands, the repair of 10 existing handpumps and the construction of 209 household latrinesiii
. Latrine
construction exceeded the initial aim of 150 households, presenting a high demand and willingness within
the community to own their own latrine, demonstrating that this simple, low cost, self-build approach is
contextually appropriate within response activities. The hand dug wells used permawell lining (refer to
Photo 1), which is a lightweight, easily transportable liner that is quick to construct. This approach
allowed access to safe drinking water within the response period, as well as leaving permanent
infrastructure for residents and for future hosting needs.
Humanitarian work undertaken in Maban, Upper Nile, and Twic East, Lankien and Walgak, Jonglei, has
focused on scaling up more sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure. With a focus on
building capacity of host communities to support influxes of IDPs, Oxfam have been drilling new
boreholes and repairing and upgrading existing boreholes to increase access to safe water. A new more
sustainable hand pump design is being trialed in both states. The Fairwater blue pump (refer to Photo 2) is
a hand pump designed to operate at depth (allowing water provision in the wet and dry seasons), increase
the lifespan of the water point between breakdowns and minimise the need for spare parts, which is an
essential design components for regions that have limited connections to markets.
Photograph 1. Photograph 2. Photograph 3.
Hand dug well liner installation Fairwater blue pump in Lankien, Transporting latrine slabs to
in Nyal response Jonglei state IDPs and hosts on islands
surrounding Nyal, Unity State
The scale up of water supply infrastructure and the introduction of new technology supports households
absorptive capacity, e.g. to manage water access in the dry season/potential drought; adaptive capacity,
e.g. to manage water resources during an influx of IDPs; and their transformative capacity by ultimately
ensuring resilience to shocks, such as large IDP influx and drought through infrastructure that has the
capacity, robustness and sustainability to manage a variety of extreme perturbations that may cause crisis
situations. To provide sustainable sanitation at scale within rapid response and longer-term humanitarian
programming, an incentivised household self-build latrine construction approach is used. Within this
approach households are given an opportunity to construct their own latrine through a small incentive -
the provision of a latrine slab - after the household digs a pit. The household is then responsible for
constructing the superstructure with no further inputs from Oxfam. Technical guidance is given on the
location of the pit to reduce potential for collapse, and the dug pit is inspected to ensure it has been
constructed correctly before the slab is distributed to the household. The slab base and the superstructure
will also be checked to ensure quality. Ownership is strong and the technically guided approach will
allow the household to repeat the construction of a new latrine when the pit fills, ensuring continued
access to sanitation facilities. This approach has been very successful, with rapid, high uptake in all areas
of implementation – Unity, western Jonglei and northern Jonglei - resulting in 1288 household latrines
constructed within rapid responses and post-crisis environments, within a 1 year periodiv
, supporting host
communities and IDPs throughout the crisis, as well as leaving lasting infrastructure (refer to Photo 3).
An Oxfam internal evaluationv
found that there was an 8% collapse rate in northern Jonglei, with the
main factor for collapse the construction of latrines in low lying areas, which sees the heavy rains
inundate the unstable cotton soil. Focus group discussions and observations found that all households
were digging new latrines to replace the collapsed ones. In areas where there is no choice but to construct
in a low lying area, pit linings are installed through the support of Oxfam technicians using sandbags.
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Building Resilience through Supply Chains for Spare Parts and Construction Materials
The current conflict in South Sudan requires recognition that more efficient use of relief inputs will be required
if overall coping ability of local communities is to be strengthened - including markets and commercial
networks. Oxfam’s strategy is based upon operational presence in areas that are displacement/return
routes and that are linked through markets and trade. This enables Oxfam and its partners to reinforce
positive linkages between ethnic groups through expanding previous and existing reciprocity systems and
strengthening supply lines to increase availability of goods and trade in markets. Essential WASH
construction materials can be found in different parts of South Sudan, for example, sand is abundant in
northern Jonglei, whilst gravel can be sourced in central Equatoria, By linking states and counties that
have critical materials with those that have or have had market connections and/or trade routes, Oxfam
helps to strengthen local market capacity, which should improve access and availability to basic goods for
vulnerable conflict affected communities. This will ensure communities are able to support their own
development through community-led and owned approaches. There are many market linkages and
population flows throughout the Greater Upper Nile (Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile states) (refer to
Figure 1). These interconnections present co-reliance opportunities to enhance trade, economic growth
and peaceful co-existence between communities, supporting the development of resilience.
Building Local Existing Capacity to Strengthen and Maintain Water Supply Infrastructure
Understanding existing local capacity and actively building this capacity to support and lead on
humanitarian response, as well as offer sustainable management of infrastructure, is key to building local
resilience. Empowering state authorities and ensuring that they are held to account will maintain vital
governance in the area of operation. Oxfam’s WASH team actively promotes working through the
Ministry of Physical Infrastructure (MoPI) in government held areas and equivalent authorities in
opposition held areas, where possible, involving them in assessments and programme planning. Existing
pump mechanics are trained and paid to repair boreholes in order to maintain the MoPI’s or opposition
area equivalent’s functionality and authority in operational areas. Strengthening local authorities’ ability
to provide support services to build up and maintain water and sanitation service infrastructure enables a
local authority to be a productive and accountable entity. Local private sector and skilled traders should
be utilised, as they can offer a huge resource for rehabilitation and (re)construction. Within a crisis,
tapping into this will allow rapid asset recovery and livelihood stimulation, essential for developing
adaptive capacity. Oxfam, where available, contract local skilled labour to rehabilitate boreholes,
construct latrine slabs (e.g. dome slabs), support vulnerable households to construct latrines, and purchase
any available construction materials locally, supporting local traders. Working through local partners can
also offer an asset for the development of resilience and appropriate and timely crisis management. Local
partners have a wealth of local knowledge and strong community relationships, which can be used to
build grass roots resilience. The capacity of local partners can be strengthened to develop local response
capabilities to quickly respond to emergencies at scale. This results in more effective and context
appropriate transitions between crisis and non-crisis periods, with minimal external support needed. In
2014, Oxfam in South Sudan made a strategic decision in its annual Humanitarian Strategy to work with
and through local partners and to keep them as a cornerstone of resilience programming throughout the
traditional conflict states over the coming five years. To date this approach has strengthened the capacity
of Oxfam’s local partner in Unity state, UNIDO, which has supported a stronger, more continuous
presents in the area, enabled more contextually reflective work to be undertaken, an ability to react
rapidly to needs and to crisis, and ensure South Sudanese ownership and accountability in preparedness
and response activities.
Building Social Connections for Resilience
Existing prior research from Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS – the collective humanitarian response to the 1989
– 2005 civil war in then southern Sudan) recommends that ‘the social and economic structures of South Sudan
must be established so that projects can respond effectively to the social consequences of war’ (UNICEF
1996). Supporting the maintenance and development of social bonds, whilst mitigating any potential for
conflict between communities, i.e. IDP and host community, will significantly increase resilience, due to
an ability to share resources and co-rely on each other in times of crisis, raising their absorptive and
adaptive capacity. Oxfam programmes support host communities to enable them to cater for influxes of
IDPs, ensuring sufficient water supplies and sanitation facilities are made available to prevent over use of
resources, which may cause resentment and a breakdown of social connections. Situations can arise that
see IDPs forced to collect water at night, due to limited access in the day, which has exposed them to
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). Social dynamics need to be accounted for in emergency
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WASH programming, as it can result in conflict and protection issues, which will break down social
connections, leaving communities vulnerable. Social cohesions can be reinforced through proper siting of
facilities and the implementation of sufficient water supplies based on community consultation, which
will account for the context and challenges faced by the conflict affected communities. Markets, as well
as trade between communities previously in conflict, can be used to build social interaction and co-
reliance to help promote positive and productive interaction. Similarly, market linkages also reflect IDP
displacement/return routes, which will enable support in key strategic areas along these routes for
assistance, integration, re-integration and promotion of peaceful coexistence and diversity amongst ethnic
groups as they travel in search of family members, for refuge or on their return home.
Conclusion
It has been shown that there are a number of strategic interventions that can be implemented within
WASH programming to actively build resilience by strengthening absorptive, adaptive and transformative
capacity within complex emergency settings. These interventions include the development of
infrastructure, strengthening supply chains and building local capacity and social connections. These
resilience building initiatives have the ability to establish links between crisis and non-crisis periods,
mutually reinforcing transitions to actively build transformative capacity, which aims to stimulate the
evolution of a fundamentally new system that will ensure shocks will no longer have an impact on a
formerly exposed society.
References
BBC (2015) South Sudan warring sides 'stockpiling weapons' – UN. BBC news Africa, 5th
November
2015.
Bosher, L. S. (2005) ‘The divine Heirarchy’: The Social and Institutional Elements of Vulnerability in
South India. A Thesis Submitted to Middlesex University.
IPC (2015) Integrated food security phase classification, the Republic of South Sudan. An IPC
publication.
King, K. G. (2015) Resilience in the Humanitarian Sphere: Stimulating Resilience for Recovery in Haiti.
A Thesis Submitted to Loughborough University.
Office of the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (2016) Crisis impacts on households in Unity State, South
Sudan 2014-2015.
Oxfam (2013) No Accident: Resilience and the Inequality of Risk. Oxfam Briefing Paper, 21st
May, 2013.
The Sentry (2015) The Nexus of Corruption and Conflict in South Sudan, Dismantling the Financing of
Africa’s Most Deadliest Conflicts. A Sentry publication.
UNICEF (1996) Operation Lifeline Sudan: A Review. A UNICEF publication.
Contact details
About the authors: Dr Katrice King currently the Senior WASH Coordinator for Oxfam South Sudan, has
worked in South Sudan for over 14 months and has undertaken senior WASH roles in a further 8
countries globally. Completing a PhD in January 2015 on Resilience in the Humanitarian Sphere.
Elizabeth White, currently the Policy Adviser for Oxfam South Sudan, is an advocacy, policy and
campaigns professional with a background in conflict and protracted crisis settings including South
Sudan and Somalia.
Dr Katrice King
Senior WASH Advisor
Oxfam, South Sudan
Email: kking@oxfam.org.uk
Elizabeth White
Policy Adviser
Oxfam, South Sudan
Email: ewhite@oxfam.org.uk
Endnotes
i
Oxfam South Sudan’s Resilience Strategy 2016
ii
Oxfam Nyal Rapid Assessment Report, 11-17th
September 2015
iii
Oxfam Nyal EP&R Response Endline Survey, January 2016.
iv
Oxfam Final Donor Reports – OFDA 2015 & 2016, ECHO 2015 & 2016
v
Household Latrine Programme in Lankien, Internal Evaluation, July 2015. Oxfam South Sudan.